Wealth disparity needs a constant spotlight, but I don't know where the citation for a few billionaires owning more than the bottom 50% comes from. Robert Reich has said it, I believe.
The Federal Reserve says that the bottom 50% holds more than $4 Trillion in net wealth. The top few billionaires have had as much as half a trillion, $…
Wealth disparity needs a constant spotlight, but I don't know where the citation for a few billionaires owning more than the bottom 50% comes from. Robert Reich has said it, I believe.
The Federal Reserve says that the bottom 50% holds more than $4 Trillion in net wealth. The top few billionaires have had as much as half a trillion, $.5 Trillion, about, and that is extreme -- but nowhere close to the bottom 50% ( link below )
Why focus on this?
None of the top billionaires, as reported anyway, hold even 2 thousandths of our private wealth.
We need to know our total household wealth, and to assert our voting power over the wealthy. We have the money -- not them. We are the board of directors of the boards of directors.
But again, we need to know and report and constantly cite our massive collective net household wealth, to be able to know and say that the zillionaires are not our overlords, not with such small piddling fractions of our expansive net wealth of the households of our citizens. -- b.rad
ps this does not begin to account for the wealth of our federal enterprise, which I have to believe is the most solvent, richest entity in human history, by itself. But all we hear about is our federal 'debt.'
The inequality.org claims seem closest, but they cite 2016 for the bottom 50% and 2018 for the top 3 billionaires.
That page says the bottom 50% owns $250 billion, which is drastically smaller than the CBO and Fed numbers for any quarter that year. ( see Fed link at http://uswealthclock.com )
Weirdly, this suppresses the power of the poorest of us — it’s depressing and not right, and I believe it depresses and suppresses the vote of the poorest to constantly hear it.
The poorest half of us together have much, much more than the top few zillionaires, and the number is updated quarterly, so there is no excuse for getting it wrong.
Regardless, the mass of us have much, much, much more than the zillionaires, but we don’t act like it. I believe that is because we don’t hear and know the number, and don’t have it at the ready.
thanks — b.rad
ps extra thanks for the CBO link, it’s the only other place I know of to see the distribution and growth of wealth … seems it must be related to the Fed data
Wealth disparity needs a constant spotlight, but I don't know where the citation for a few billionaires owning more than the bottom 50% comes from. Robert Reich has said it, I believe.
The Federal Reserve says that the bottom 50% holds more than $4 Trillion in net wealth. The top few billionaires have had as much as half a trillion, $.5 Trillion, about, and that is extreme -- but nowhere close to the bottom 50% ( link below )
Why focus on this?
None of the top billionaires, as reported anyway, hold even 2 thousandths of our private wealth.
See <http://uswealthclock.com> and the sources ( Federal Reserve, Treasury )
We need to know our total household wealth, and to assert our voting power over the wealthy. We have the money -- not them. We are the board of directors of the boards of directors.
But again, we need to know and report and constantly cite our massive collective net household wealth, to be able to know and say that the zillionaires are not our overlords, not with such small piddling fractions of our expansive net wealth of the households of our citizens. -- b.rad
ps this does not begin to account for the wealth of our federal enterprise, which I have to believe is the most solvent, richest entity in human history, by itself. But all we hear about is our federal 'debt.'
https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-bottom-half-of-america-has-half-the-wealth-it-did-30-years-ago/
https://www.businessinsider.com/bottom-half-americans-hold-2-percent-wealth-richest-have-third-2022-9
https://inequality.org/great-divide/bernie-3-billionaires-more-wealth-half-america/
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/14/richest-1-percent-now-own-half-the-worlds-wealth.html
It all depends on how you count, but the picture is crystal clear.
The inequality.org claims seem closest, but they cite 2016 for the bottom 50% and 2018 for the top 3 billionaires.
That page says the bottom 50% owns $250 billion, which is drastically smaller than the CBO and Fed numbers for any quarter that year. ( see Fed link at http://uswealthclock.com )
Weirdly, this suppresses the power of the poorest of us — it’s depressing and not right, and I believe it depresses and suppresses the vote of the poorest to constantly hear it.
The poorest half of us together have much, much more than the top few zillionaires, and the number is updated quarterly, so there is no excuse for getting it wrong.
Regardless, the mass of us have much, much, much more than the zillionaires, but we don’t act like it. I believe that is because we don’t hear and know the number, and don’t have it at the ready.
thanks — b.rad
ps extra thanks for the CBO link, it’s the only other place I know of to see the distribution and growth of wealth … seems it must be related to the Fed data